Word History: Like Latin in Europe and elsewhere, Sanskrit has been used by the educated classes in India for literary and religious purposes for over two thousand years. It achieved this status partly through a standardization that resulted from a long tradition of grammatical theory and analysis. This tradition reached its height around 500 bc in the work of the grammarian Panini, who composed an intricate and complex description of the language in the form of quasi-mathematical rules reminiscent of the rules of generative grammar in modern times. The language thus codified was called saṃskṛtam, "perfected, refined" to distinguish it from prākṛtam the "natural, vulgar" speech of ordinary people. Sanskrit thus became a fixed literary language, while Prakrit continued to develop into what are now the modern spoken languages of northern and central India, such as Hindi and Bengali.

Sanskrit

(ˈsænskrɪt)

n

(Languages) an ancient language of India, the language of the Vedas, of Hinduism, and of an extensive philosophical and scientific literature dating from the beginning of the first millennium bc. It is the oldest recorded member of the Indic branch of the Indo-European family of languages; recognition of the existence of the Indo-European family arose in the 18th century from a comparison of Sanskrit with Greek and Latin. Although it is used only for religious purposes, it is one of the official languages of India

[C17: from Sanskrit samskrta perfected, literally: put together]

ˈSanskritistn

San•skrit

(ˈsæn skrɪt)

n.

the oldest extant Indo-Aryan language, retained in India in a codified, classical form as a language of literature, traditional learning, and Hinduism. Abbr.:Skt

[1610–20; < Skt saṃskṛta adorned, perfected]

San•skrit′ic,adj.

San′skrit•ist,n.

Sanskrit

1. The oldest member of the Indo-European family of languages. Its grammar was fixed before c. 400 BC.

Hindooism, Hinduism - a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils

Darsana - (from the Sanskrit word for `to see') one of six orthodox philosophical systems or viewpoints on the nature of reality and the release from bondage to karma

Mimamsa - (from the Sanskrit word for `reflection' or `interpretation') one of six orthodox philosophical systems or viewpoints on ritual traditions rooted in the Vedas and the Brahmanas as opposed to Vedanta which relies mostly on the Upanishads

Vedanta - (from the Sanskrit for `end of the Veda') one of six orthodox philosophical systems or viewpoints rooted in the Upanishads as opposed to Mimamsa which relies on the Vedas and Brahmanas

Veda, Vedic literature - (from the Sanskrit word for `knowledge') any of the most ancient sacred writings of Hinduism written in early Sanskrit; traditionally believed to comprise the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads

But that evening Jo fancied that Beth's eyes rested on the lively, dark face beside her with peculiar pleasure, and that she listened with intense interest to an account of some exciting cricket match, though the phrases, `caught off a tice', `stumped off his ground'', and `the leg hit for three', were as intelligible to her as Sanskrit.

When told that speaking Sanskrit is seen as supporting right-wing views and Urdu backers as pro-Pakistan, he said: "This kind of sectarian view, from whichever quarter it may come, is against the very interest of humanity.

Balasubramanian, organising secretary of Samskrita Bharati, said a group of 48 students, who study Sanskrit as a second language, enthusiastically took part in the workshop, which was aimed at the practical use of the language with ease in day-to-day application.

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